Systems are known that automatically identify forms placed on a digitizer device. (The term xe2x80x9cform,xe2x80x9d as used herein, refers to a printed image on a page, rather than to an actual page; that is, if two pages are printed with the same image, they are considered the same form.) For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,869,789 (Reid-Green) discusses a page recognition system that detects a page number pre-coded onto a sheet of paper when the sheet of paper is mounted on the digitizer system. The system utilizes a built-in scanner to detect a pre-coded page identifier on the back-side of the page. U.S. Pat. No. 5,555,101 (Larson et al.) discusses an automated page recognition system for forms received by facsimile and also uses a pre-printed pattern to identify a form.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,629,499 (Flickinger et al.) discloses an electronic clipboard and discusses two methods for recognizing forms used thereon. In the first method, a toggle switch is used to toggle between various form identifiers displayed on the clipboard; in the second method, a bar-code reader reads a bar-code pre-printed on the form. The toggle-display requires the clipboard to contain a micro-processor that may need to be re-programmed every time a new set of forms is used.
Other digitizing notepads are known that record notations made on paper forms mounted thereon. For example, A.T. Cross Company has marketed a CrossPad 35 (see FIG. 1), a portable digital notepad that digitizes and records pen movements using radio transmission. The CrossPad transmits the recorded pen movements to a personal computer for processing and analysis. The CrossPad, however, is not itself capable of identifying pre-printed forms. The information recorded by the CrossPad and transmitted to a computer only comprises the pen strokes entered by a user writing on a form. Information pre-printed on the form cannot be detected by the Crosspad. The CrossPad does not have a form ID display that can be toggled through by a user, nor does it have a bar-code reader.
Because devices such as the CrossPad only detect information that is written by a user, such devices cannot be used in systems that identify a form based on pre-printed information. Even systems such as those disclosed in Reid-Green are not capable of detecting form identification information when multiple forms are placed on the digitizer. For example, Reid-Green would only identify the form that is at the bottom of the stack. The device discussed in Flickinger et al. might be capable of reading multiple pages, but such a device requires additional (and costly) form-reading mechanisms not present in CrossPad-type devices. The use of a bar-code reader or other form-reading mechanism in a digitizer increases the cost and the weight of the digitizer.
There is therefore a need for a system of automated form identification that is capable of recognizing forms used on the CrossPad, and similar devices, without relying on pre-printed information on the forms.
There is a further need for a system that does not require a cumbersome LCD display (along with a programmable microprocessor) and toggle switch or other input device to be integrated into a CrossPad-type of electronic clipboard.
The present invention comprises a method for automated identification of pre-printed forms, comprising the steps of identifying the existence and location of a mark made manually on a pre-printed form and identifying the pre-printed form by comparing the location of the mark to a database listing forms and corresponding locations of identifying marks. The invention further comprises a system for identification of pre-printed forms, comprising a digitizer; a pre-printed form comprising one or more pre-printed indicators unique to the form indicating where a user is to enter one or more identifying marks; and a computer processor, coupled with a database, that receives one or more digitized images of marks made on the form, identifies the existence and location of one or more identifying marks made by the user, and identifies the form by comparing the location of said one or more marks to a database listing forms and corresponding locations of identifying marks. The present invention also comprises computer software for automated identification of pre-printed forms, comprising software for receiving and storing data describing the location of a mark made manually on a pre-printed form and software for identifying said form by comparing the location of said mark to a database listing forms and corresponding locations of identifying marks.